Kenner elects Mike Yenni mayor over Phil Capitano

John McCusker/The Times-PicayuneKenner Mayor-elect Mike Yenni greets his supporters at the Chateau Golf and Country Club on Saturday.

Mike Yenni easily defeated Phil Capitano for Kenner mayor Saturday, winning the office that his grandfather held three decades ago.

"I know my grandmother and both grandfathers are looking down on me tonight, and as mayor, I'll do my best to fill my grandfather's shoes," Yenni told a crowd of excited supporters at Chateau Golf & Country Club. In a nod to incumbent Ed Muniz, who did not seek re-election and endorsed him, Yenni said, "I wouldn't be here tonight if it wasn't for him."

The results, with all precincts reporting, were:

Yenni -- 6,745 votes, for 57 percent

Capitano -- 5,181 votes, 43 percent.

Yenni, 33, resigned as Muniz's chief administrative officer to run for mayor. He promised to continue many of Muniz's initiatives, including a plan to improve Kenner's sewerage system.

John McCusker/The Times-PicayuneKenner Mayor-elect Mike Yenni greets his supporters at the Chateau Golf and Country Club on Saturday.

The mayor-elect is a grandson of Joe Yenni, Kenner's mayor from 1970 to 1980 and then Jefferson Parish president until his death in 1987, and a nephew of Mike Yenni, parish president from 1987 until his death in office in 1995.

Yenni, who began volunteering in the Jefferson Parish Citizens' Affairs Department while he was still in high school, said his family legacy has informed his desire to be a public servant.

He took over the entire Citizens' Affairs Department in 2005 at the age of 28, running Carnival parades, handling citizen complaints and overseeing senior citizen services, Hispanic outreach, gambling regulations and some youth programs. He left that job to become chief administrative officer for Muniz.

During the campaign, Yenni supported a $22 million low-interest state loan to help fix sewer problems and called for raising sewer user fees to pay back the money. Capitano, a former mayor whom Muniz defeated in 2006, said he would do the work without the loan and opposed the fee hike.

Capitano, 55, addressing somber supporters at the St. Jerome Knights of Columbus hall, seemed to echo the vicious tone of the campaign.

"Elections aren't always won by the best individual," he said. But he added:

Michael DeMocker/The Times-PicayunePhil Capitano hugs a supporter Saturday night at the St. Jerome Knights of Columbus hall."Tomorrow we have to try and join hands with our opponent. We have to make sure we support our next mayor, Mr. Mike Yenni. It's up to us to honor that, whether we like it or not."

Capitano campaigned in part on his record as mayor from 2004 to 2006, saying he cut government waste then and would do it again.

In his victory speech, he never mentioned Capitano by name, but only said, "I tried as hard as I could in this campaign to focus on the issues," mentioning "fixing the sewer system" and financing the Police Department.